Weekly Chat, Sunday April 3 2011

Hi all: very late starting this - was gone most of the day. I saw Odin on the nest - brilliant!  Now off to check on Lady and, hopefully, catch up on chat!

  • Morning all,

    No time to reply individually but thanks for all the posts. Here is a pic of the noble Thunderdog taken yesterday:

  • Good Morning ALL.  I have spent too much time watching the nest this morning, so will catch up later.

    Alan, I think that is one of the loveliest photographs you have shown us of Hamish. He looks so handsome.

  • Alan what a wise looking dog!

  • lovely picture of hamish Alan our new puppy is into everything i forgot what it was like to have a puppy its been that long,but i am loving it she is so loving when she is not biting but she will get out of that

  • A Noble Thunderdog indeed!  Lovely pic of him Alan.  It is a beautiful day here, if a little breezy.  OH is trying to sit in the garden with his cuppa, but can't find a place away from the wind.

    Great to hear that you are getting along so well with Bobbie, Alicat - she looks as if she will be a sweet & loving companion.

  • Hi Annette How amazing that you should post your 'something silly' just now.  My sister has compiled a little booklet which she calls 'Doggy Reflections', which contains poems, quotations, etc. all on a doggy theme.  She invites people to help themselves to copies and asks that, if they wish, they should leave a donation to the animal sanctuary where she volunteers (and where OH and I got Tweed and Indy).  She has included a version of your piece, under the heading 'Inner Strength'!  There are several other items which I think contributors here would like - must ask her permission to use one or two.

    Alan Thunderdog looking very impressive and rather superior!

    Trish2 Congratulations to Mia (and you).  86% is a wonderful result.

    AQ and OG Thank you for the super pictures.

    Must go now and take our 'old girls' for a walk (in the sunshine, which is great).

  • ANNETTE  love the something silly    how true that is.

    TRISH2 well done to Mia for coming first.

  • OH had to take Dillon to vet today as he developed a slight limp yesterday. Seems it is probably the onset of arthritis which she said she would expect with a retriever who will be 9 next month.

  • What wonderful weather!  Set off early with cool bag to buy some scones to freeze (including wonderful treacle scones) at Farm Shop.  Had early lunch on terrace at Threave Gardens (National Trust for Scotland) then went into Castle Douglas for the history society talk – actually Geology as it was the Earth History of Scotland, six thousand million BC to present day (and beyond ?) – continental drift, fusion of Islands, collision of plates, volcanic action, rising sea levels etc.   It was a wee bit superficial in content, despite being a highly qualified expert delivering it, but he made it quite entertaining and I think was as sorry as his audience to spend an hour indoors on such a lovely day!

     

    After that, we went to explore the area around Threave Castle to look at possibilities of getting down to the river and near the Osprey nest on a future visit, because we had been told there were gravel paths.  However, paths turned out to be gritted tarmac and will be easily negotiable.  First sight of nest was from three fields and an area of scrub away, but very obvious to spot in the very top of an old Poplar tree – the only known Osprey nest in the UK to be in Poplar!  A young woman and her child coming back up the path asked what we were looking at so OH gave them a look through his binoculars!  She then asked loads of questions about Ospreys, so we told her their UK history, shared a lot of what we know and suggested she shows the LG nest to the little girl online!  She thought that would be wonderful, so maybe a new candidate for Ospreyitis!

     

    We only walked about halfway down the paths, because I was on foot, but we sat on a bench and watched the Osprey nest, saw Cock Pheasants fighting and a Reed Bunting searching in an old cart track and were entertained by a singing Chaffinch in an Ash tree.  We got home too late to cook our dinner, so will have that tomorrow and ate tomorrow’s salad this evening!

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!

  • I guess everyone has been enjoying the great outdoors today – not so many posts.

    AQ – thanks for the continuation and the photos.  Lovely still lake at Barmera – sorry it was difficult to get refreshments at Berri!  Sad about the imports of fruit juice – if you have the climate for citrus, it seems such a waste to ship them in!  Was that car really driving out of the river in the second picture?  Pleased you all made the fruit and nut vendor happy!

    Annette – such a change to “hear” you say you had a good choice of footwear in your size!  Surprised that you have moles in California – are they the same little ”gentlemen in velvet coats” that we have, or are they bigger than ours?  I hope the Gophers don’t follow them into your garden!  We have little piles of earth today – Mrs Blackbird has taken a fancy to lining her nest with small plants – she pulls out the plants and leaves the mess behind!  Enjoyed the lines about the family Dog!

    Trish – “well done” to Mia – and her Handler!

    Alan – indeed Hamish does look noble in that photo – a very handsome Thunderdog!

    Lindy – I hope the wind dropped for you in Cheshire – we have had virtually none today, so felt the full benefit of the sun.

    Patricia – pleased you had another sunny day for walking the dogs – especially good for the “two old girls” with their aches and pains – and you with your arthritis too.

    Dibnlib – so sorry that Dillon is showing signs of arthritis – but I think 9 years is often about the time they begin to show it.   Perhaps he’ll be less eager to get ahead of you when walking if it hurts!

     

    I think we must stay at home tomorrow, for OH to get the lawn edges and corners strimmed, and for me to do more washing and ironing ready to go away mid-week.  I also need to re-organise plants in the greenhouse to try to make it easier for neighbour to water them while we are away.  He tends to over-water, so I want to try to leave them all in a row and tell him to just sprinkle gently across them all.  Will also post some photos tomorrow, from today’s outing.

    Ospreys Rule OK, but Goldfinches come a close second!